Woman Raped After Leaving Forest Glen Station

A Silver Spring woman was raped just after midnight Tuesday in the Montgomery Hills area shortly after getting off a train at Forest Glen Metro Station.

The 23-year-old woman walked south on Georgia Avenue, bought cigarettes at a gas station in the 9500 block, then began walking north on that road.

A man approached the woman, grabbed her and displayed a knife. He forced the woman to the side of a drugstore at a shopping center and sexually assaulted her, police said.

After the incident, the woman walked to Holy Cross Hospital and notified police.

Police described the suspect as a bald, white man, about 35, with a handlebar moustache. He is about 5 feet, 6 inches or 7 inches tall and weighs about 200 pounds. He was wearing a white tank-top and blue jeans.

The rapist was not seen in a vehicle, which might mean that he frequents the area at that time of night, police spokesman Derek Baliles said. His description does not match that of anyone else wanted in rape or sexual assault cases, Baliles said.

Police did not release information about the rape until two days after it occurred because investigators were interviewing the victim and collecting evidence, Baliles said.

No arrests have been made and the investigation continues.

The crime is the second sexual assault in recent months near a Metro station in Montgomery County. In March, a Bethesda woman was sexually assaulted and robbed in a hallway of her apartment building after her attacker followed her home from the Friendship Heights station.

Baliles said police warn people who might have to walk at night to develop strategies and plans in case they are attacked or assaulted.

"It's a personal decision whether or not you want to attempt to fight back or allow the assault to continue," he said.